Carlinville vs Hillsboro: 5 Key Takeaways

In an important early SCC matchup Carlinville traveled to Hillsboro Thursday night. Carlinville jumped out to an early lead but with a strong second and third quarter Hillsboro took control of the game. They were able to cruise through the 4th and ultimately come away with a 60-40 victory. The following are 5 Key Takeaways from the game. <ol> <li>One critical piece of the puzzle for Hillsboro this season is figuring out how to replace the scoring of Sammi Matoush. In this game the answer was by committee. <strong>Nikaya Harston </strong>had 12 points to lead the way. She did a good job of scoring in the paint. The key for her was establishing good position on the block and also her motor and effort on the boards. Harston is strong and tough in the post. <strong>Emily Reynolds </strong>had 10 points to be the other player in double figures. Emily did most of her damage off mid range jumpers. She was able to finish off the bounce and off the catch. <strong>Claire Tester </strong>was active around the basket and in the lane getting 9 points. Claire has a strong body so she can post up smaller wings, but if you try to defend her with a big she can put the ball on the floor and drive by them. At 5'8 Claire is a "tweener", but she can figure out a way to score. <strong>Haley Major and Layne Rupert </strong>each scored 8 and 7 points from their guard spots.</li> <li>On a similar note, Carlinville came into the season needing to find a way to replace the leadership and scoring of Rachel Olroyd. In this game, they did not seem to have that answer. <strong>Corin Stewart </strong>was in double figures  with 13 but the left hander could not find the range on her shot. <strong>Jill Stayton </strong>has shown signs of being a good outside shooter but was also having a hard time finding her range. Hillsboro spent 2 1/2 quarters in a 1-2-2 and Carlinville had plenty of good looks, they just could not hit them. That ability to score consistently will be something Carlinville will have to work out.</li> <li>After such a successful season last year and having to replace their whole starting lineup the question coming in was, how good can Hillsboro be? The answer is they are still a tough team. They are a different team but still capable of winning games. This team is led by the inside play of Harston and the wing tandem of Tester and Reynolds. All 3 girls are capable scorers and good rebounders. Reynolds had a very good AAU season with the Predators and has come in prepared to have a good senior campaign. Harston is strong and athletic in the post and tough to stop once she gets the ball.</li> <li>Carlinville waited until late in the game to try to press Hillsboro and it reminded me that last year they seemed most comfortable going at break neck speed. I wonder if they might be better off trying to play the same way this year. Hillsboro is big and tough inside and maybe Carlinville played into their game by slowing it down. I don't know Coach DeNeve's team the way he does and I don't want to second guess him. I would have liked to see what <strong>Gracie Reels, Sarah DeNeve, Eryn Seal and Elise Baker </strong>could have done by making the front line of Hillsboro play at a fast pace the whole game. It seems like that may be the preferred way to play for that team. We will see as the season goes forward.</li> <li>While this may be a re-tooling year for Hillsboro they should be working towards a good season next year too.Seniors Reynolds and point guard <strong>Shelby Houchlei </strong>are starters and <strong>Maci Blankenship </strong>comes off the bench to provide help in the post, but they have a very deep junior class. Harston,Tester, Major, <strong>Maddy Rupert </strong>and <strong>Vanessa Compton </strong>are all contributors from the 2021 class and Layne Rupert is a 2023. So while they are looking to have a good season this year, they should be ready for another big season in 2020-21.</li> </ol> This conference is very competitive and teams may not be as good as they look one night nor as "bad" as they look one night. I am sure this was not what Carlinville expected of themselves. It will be interesting to see how each team does moving forward.